Video Is the Now (and Future) of Social Media

Social media has transformed the way businesses and people send and receive information. WBGO's Ang Santos reports on Animoto, a company based in New York City that says video has become the most effective way to get the point across.

Ready to go templates on Animoto make effective videos simply a drag and drop to create.

Credit animoto.com

Anybody with a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any number of social media sites have mindlessly scrolled the feed. Sometimes a post with a picture or video catches your attention.

“The macro trend we’re seeing is video is the way people prefer these days to consume information,” says Jason Hsiao, a former TV production professional, and a co-founder of Animoto.

“[It's] an online tool that allows you to create professional looking videos very simply.”

Hsiao says corporations caught on to the social media video trend quickly.

“They see that this is how the whole business and marketing landscape is shifting. It started with mobile, now it’s video. They are really trying to capture that wave.”

Stevie Clifton is another co-founder, and vice-president of product.

“In the beginning when me and Jason were working in professional TV and film, we realized that what we had access to in terms of motion graphics and amazing story telling is the sort of thing that normal people just don’t have access to. We wanted to find a way for normal mom and pops, and your neighbor down the street to make incredible video as well.”

So Animoto has become to video, pretty much what Squarespace is to websites.

“You can start with a premade video off of the shelf and then you can easily customize it for what you need," said Clifton. "Website builders completely changed the website creation industry. So instead of being a professional designer or a professional engineer, anyone could create a website. We’re doing the same thing for video.”

Animoto has several uses outside of business and marketing.

“For a wedding, if you have a lot of photos that you want to quickly dump in and choose some great music. As someone who’s spent weeks and months of my life in these editors, Animoto does all of that difficult work with the press of a button,” said Hsiao.

Possibly a tool for musicians?

“Often times, I think a lot of editors in particular will tell you that the audio is just as important as what you’re seeing. Just in terms of a different mode of understanding and communication. I think that if people that are artists or musicians want to get a message across, and they want people to understand the value of their music, paring that with the package of a video is the most effective possible way to get that message across,” said Clifton.

Don’t expect to become an award-winning videographer with Animoto, but if you’re somebody who takes too many photos on vacation, you may have a fun new way to share them.